EP0580283A2
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EP
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Ink jet head and method of manufacturing thereof
Assignee: Seiko Epson Corp
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Filing: 1993-06-03
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2013-06-03
Abstract
Abstract An ink jet head 10 has nozzle holes 4, emitting chamber 6 respectively connected thereto, and vibrating plates 5 are formed at the bottom wall of the emitting chambers 6. A common ink cavity 8 is adapted to supply ink to the emitting chambers through orifices 7. Electrodes 21 are placed so as to face the vibrating plates so as to drive the vibrating plates by static electricity. One of two anode bonding faces between the first substrate 1 forming the vibrating plate 5 and the second substrate 2 forming the electrode has a dent 15 to form a vibrating chamber 9 or a dent 25 for mounting an electrode therein, or SiO₂ membranes 41 and 42, respectively formed therein. The gap length G between the vibrating plate and the electrode is determined to be between 0.05 - 2µm.
Inventors
- 👤 Mitsuro c/o Seiko Epson Corporation Atobe
- 👤 Shinichi c/o Seiko Epson Corporation Kamisuki
- 👤 Shinichi c/o Seiko Epson Corporation Yotsuya
- 👤 Hiroshi C/O Seiko Epson Corporation Koeda
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 18:23
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/135; B41J2/14; B41J2/14314; B41J2/16; B41J2/1621; B41J2/1623; B41J2/1626; B41J2/1629; B41J2/1631; B41J2/1632; B41J2/164; B41J2/1642; B41J2/1645; B41J2/1646; B41J2002/14379; B41J2202/00; B41J2202/01; B41J2202/03; B41J2202/11
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
97 words
An ink jet head comprising one or more nozzles (4) for ejecting ink drops, a respective ejecting chamber (6) connected to the or each said nozzle (4), a vibrating plate (5) constituting at least one wall of the ejecting chamber (6), and a driving means for generating a deformation in said vibrating plate, characterised in that said driving means is an electrode (21) for static-electrically deforming the vibrating plate (5) and in that said vibrating plate (5) and said electrode (21) are spaced by a distance of at least 0.05 µm and no more than 2.0 µm.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
29 words
An ink jet head according to claim 1, characterised in that said distance is defined by a dent (15) forming a vibrating chamber (9) in a first substrate (1).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
An ink jet head according to claim 1, characterised in that said distance is defined by a dent (15) for mounting an electrode (21) formed in a second substrate (2).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
58 words
An ink jet head according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a first substrate (1) and a second substrate (2) each comprise single crystal silicon substrates and the distance defining means is constituted by a gap spacer of a SiO₂ membrane previously formed on at least one face of facing portions of the substrates.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
An ink jet head according to claim 4, characterised in that said SiO₂ membrane is a thermally oxidized membrane of silicon.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
37 words
An ink jet head according to claim 4, characterised in that said SiO₂ membrane is formed by a spattering process, CVD process, vaporing process, ion-plating process, sol-gel process, thermal oxidation process or organic silicon composition sintering process.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
An ink jet head according to claim 4, characterised in that said electrode (21) comprises p-type or n-type impurities.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
37 words
An ink jet head according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said electrode (21) is covered by an dielectric membrane (24) leaving a space between the electrode (21) and the vibrating plate (5).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
35 words
An ink jet head according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said vibrating plate (5) has a second electrode integrally formed on the vibrating plate so as to fill said distance.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet head according to claim 9, characterised in that said second electrode comprises a p-type or n-type impurity.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
An ink jet head according to claim 1, characterised in that a boro-silicate glass thin membrane previously formed on at least one face of an attaching portion of the first substrate or the second substrate is used as a gap spacer for maintaining said distance.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
An ink jet head according to claim 11, characterised in that the boro-silicate glass thin membrane is formed by a spattering method.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet head according to claim 1, characterised in that said vibrating plate (5) comprises a n-type impurity layer.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
23 words
An ink jet head according to claim 1, characterised in that said vibrating plate (5) comprises a p-type impurity layer of high density.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
27 words
An ink jet head according to claim 9, characterised in that a driving wiring layer including the second electrode comprises a p-type impurity layer of high density.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
29 words
An ink jet head according to any one of claims 4 to 15, characterised in that said first substrate (1) is a silicon substrate of crystal face direction (110).
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
33 words
An ink jet head according to any one of claims 4 to 16, characterised in that said first substrate (1) is a p-type silicon substrate of which n-type impurity layer is epitaxially grown.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
76 words
An ink jet head according to claim 1, characterised in that a zone forming said distance between the vibrating plate (5) and an electrode (21) connects with a passage led to the outside before the first substrate (1) having the vibrating plate (5) formed thereon, and a second substrate (2) having an electrode (21) formed thereon is anode bonded thereto and the outlet of the passage is sealed by a sealing member after the anode-bonding process.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
An ink jet head according to claim 1, characterised in that the distance maintenance means is a photo-sensitive resin layer or an adhesive agent layer formed patternly around the electrode.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
24 words
An ink jet head according to claim 8, characterised in that said dielectric membrane is made of silicon oxide, boro-silicate glass or silicone compound.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
22 words
An ink jet head according to claim 18, characterised in that said zone is filled with gas, preferably air, nitrogen or argon.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
18 words
An ink jet printing machine including an ink jet head according to any one of the preceding claims.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
92 words
A method of manufacturing an ink jet head, characterised in that it comprises the steps of patterning a SiO₂ membrane of a predetermined thickness on a face of a first silicon substrate forming a vibrating plate except a part for the vibrating plate, or patterning a SiO₂ membrane of a predetermined thickness on an opposing face of a second silicon substrate forming an electrode except a part for the electrode, and anode-joining by a Si direct joining method for the first silicon substrate and the second silicon substrate through the SiO₂ membrane.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method according to claim 23, characterised in that it comprises the further step of forming the vibrating plate by carrying out an alkali anisotrophy etching process on the first silicon substrate.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method according to claim 23, characterised in that it comprises a further step of forming the electrode of p-type or n-type impurity by doping said second silicon substrate.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as claimed in either claim 23 or claim 24, characterised in that it includes the steps of forming n-type impurity on the p-type silicon substrate, and forming a vibrating plate by applying an electric-chemical anistrophy etching step on the silicon substrate.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
61 words
A method for anode-bonding a first substrate having a vibrating plate formed thereon and a second substrate having an electrode for driving the vibrating plate, said electrode being formed on said second substrate, characterised in that it comprises a step of controlling a potential difference betwen the vibrating plate and the electrode to decrease the potential difference during the anode-bonding process.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 27, characterised in that the potential of the electrode is made equal to that of the vibrating plate.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
86 words
A method for anode-bonding a first substrate on which a vibrating plate is formed and a second substrate on which is formed an electrode for driving the vibrating plate, characterised in that it comprises the steps of forming a common electrode to be connected to respective electrodes on the second substrate, controlling the potential differeance between said vibrating plate and the common electrode to decrease the potential difference during the anode bonding process, and separating the common electrode from the electrode after the anode bonding process.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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